Nature in Neighborhoods grants

Nature in Neighborhoods grants support community projects and programs across the region, from local park improvements to stream restoration to hands-on nature education for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Thanks to the investment of voters in 2006 and the 2013, Metro has invested more than $90 million to support a broad range of community nature projects across greater Portland, helping to protect and restore important wildlife habitat, improve water quality, build visitor amenities and connect people to nature close to home.

Learn about past grant projects

That investment in nature and communities is continuing because of voter support for a parks and natural areas levy in 2016. Grants are designed to support communities of color and other communities who have experienced barriers to accessing Metro grant funding in the past.

Nature in Neighborhoods grants have been an extremely popular part of Parks and Nature’s community investments program. Restoration projects have helped restore salmon habitat in streams across greater Portland. Nature education grants have brought young people closer to nature. Funding for land acquisition have helped create new nature parks in park-poor neighborhoods.

Apply for a Nature in Neighborhoods grant starting in January 2018. Grant funding will be available in July 2018 once funding from Metro’s renewed parks and nature levy are available.

Over the last decade, Metro has invested in nature-based play areas across the region, with the goal of giving kids opportunities to connect on a deeper level with the natural world around them. Two nature play areas at Oxbow could open as early as mid-May.

With the help of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team and the Center for Diversity and the Environment, the Parks and Nature Department hosted an all-day equity training for more than 60 people from around the region on March 11.

With the help of a $362,012 Nature in Neighborhoods grant from Metro in 2015, Oak Lodge Water Services acquired the 5.8-acre site to restore habitat and wetland structure and function, improve water quality and provide visitor amenities.

If you have a vision for improving water quality, creating fish and wildlife habitat, getting rid of weeds or restoring nature in the Portland metropolitan area, a Metro Nature in Neighborhoods restoration grant can help get your idea off the ground. Apply by Jan. 29 to be considered for the next round of funding

Metro is starting to explore the possibility of referring a third bond measure to voters, perhaps in 2019, that could support continued investments in protecting land, improving parks and natural areas and supporting community projects.

Community investments fuel a variety of projects: restoration, nature education, outdoor experiences, land acquisition, capital improvements, visitor amenities and more. Altogether over the last 25 years, the public – through Metro – has invested more than $90 million to support a broad range of community nature projects across the region, helping to preserve land, restore habitat, expand access and more.

Every September since 2008 Metro, along with a growing number of local governments including the cities of Portland, Vancouver, Hillsboro, Gresham and Beaverton come together to conduct regional trail counts.The results are integral to securing funds to build, connect and enhance trails.

Whether your roots in the region run generations deep or you moved to Oregon last week, you have your own reasons for loving this place – and Metro wants to keep it that way. Help shape the future of the greater Portland region and discover tools, services and places that make life better today.